A reasonable question we might have for James is, “What does it look like to accept the word, especially if it’s already in us?” Well, it starts with a dose of truth serum. James dives right in to warn us about self-deception. He knows full well how easy it is for us to know what to do but to choose not to do it, especially if it's uncomfortable for us. He likens listening to the word and not doing it to looking in the mirror, seeing our face, and walking away to forget what we look like. This would actually require some effort on our part to forget what we look like! It suggests more of a glancing in the mirror rather than looking. When we glance, we don’t have enough time to really see, to assess what we see, and to act accordingly. I don’t know about you, but I tend to only glance at things I consider unimportant or that I want to avoid. Few of us likely consider the look of our faces unimportant, but we may want to avoid seeing what will require effort and discipline and consideration on our part. It’s a great analogy because looking intently at scripture will require very different actions from us than will merely glancing.

When we take the time to study the Word, it calls us to both belief and action. If we say we believe and listen to the Word but we don't do anything with what we hear, it’s no better than a cursory glance that effects no change in how we live. We haven’t invested ourselves in seeing. We haven’t chosen the freedom of submission to God. And according to James, this is the same as blocking our own blessings. Why would we choose not to do the very thing that will bless us? Likely this is because our cursory glancing deceives us into thinking that God’s law is limiting. The truth is that God’s law frees us to use not only our words to bless and to be blessed but also to use our hands and our very lives to serve those in need.